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Bennett's
van on River Road in New Milford on Oct. 19, 1997, and then held under water until she died.

In 2002, the five young men and three women who hung out together - and for a short time befriended Measles - were arrested and charged with her killing. Six of them, including Bennett, have pleaded guilty.

Keith Foster
is the first to go to trial. The second week of testimony in Waterbury Superior Court wraps up today.

On Wednesday, Bennett spoke about how the planned beating of Measles turned into something far worse.

Bennett said she had been dating
A.J. Walter
and was angry that Maryann Measles was sleeping with him. Measles also had sexual encounters with Foster, witnesses have said.

The group was upset that Maryann and her mother, Cindi Measles, went to New Milford police several times to make a statutory rape complaint against Foster and Walter.

Bennett said on Oct. 19 two of the males picked up Measles in the parking lot of a New Milford supermarket and drove her to a secluded spot on River Road.

There, one of the women,
Dorothy Hallas
, started hitting Measles, "calling her a liar, calling her a b--, saying the guys never raped her," Bennett said. Measles was "crying," and "begging everybody to stop," Bennett said.

Foster asked Bennett to open her van, and she originally said no. But Bennett said she relented when Foster began yelling. She testified that
Jeffrey Boyette
, Deaneric Dupas and Walter pushed Measles into the back of the van.

Although Bennett was standing outside, she said she could see Walter having sex with Measles. Boyette and Foster also took turns, Bennett said. Measles "was crying," Bennett said. "She was trying to break loose from when they were holding her."

Asked by prosecutor
David Shepack
if she was "on board in terms of a plan for the rape," Bennett said she was not.

Bennett also testified she wasn't aware that Measles was going to be killed. After the rape, Bennett said, Walter and Dupas grabbed her and dragged her down to the water.

"Foster (was) standing with me and the rest of them," Bennett said.

Prosecutors have been trying to determine if Foster took part in the drowning.

Bennett said Dupas and Walter forced the teen to her knees and held her head under water for five minutes.

"She's trying to struggle, but they're both a lot bigger than her," she said.

Bennett said Measles was coughing the first time the men yanked her head up.

"At one point, when Dean(eric) picked her up, she wasn't coughing anymore," Bennett said. "Keith (Foster) yelled down and asked if she was dead yet."

When they saw Measles floating, they started laughing, Bennett testified.

After Wednesday's testimony, lawyer
Vicki Hutchinson
said Bennett was "relieved that she finally came in and confronted Maryann's mother and told the truth about what happened.

"Maggie told me she was trying hard not to look at Cindi (Measles). She was very aware Cindi was very emotional," Hutchinson said.

Foster claims he was not at the murder scene. His lawyer asked Bennett about comments she made to her family members. She originally told them she, too, wasn't at the scene but was going to plead guilty and testify against the others to reduce her prison sentence.

"Do you remember telling them this was my chance to get less than 20 years?" defense lawyer
Don O'Brien
asked.

"Yes," Bennett replied.

Bennett said she lied to her family so they wouldn't think so poorly of her. As a result of her deal with prosecutors, she faces 15 to 20 years in prison. She'll be sentenced when all the other cases are completed.